My Youth Began With Him

“Qin Zhaozhao, Qin Mumu,” Huo Mian said slowly. [TL note: In Chinese ‘Zhaozhao’ means ‘every morning’, and ‘Mumu’ means ‘every evening’.]

“Zhaozhao, Mumu? These names are quite… special…” one of the nurses said with a smile on her face.

“The names are so poetic… there’s a verse in a poem that goes like this, ‘If love between both sides can last for aye, why need they stay together night and day?’… Wow… Ms. Huo, are you missing the babies’ father?” another nurse asked jokingly.

Huo Mian smiled but didn’t say anything more. Then she turned to look at her mom.

“Mom… What do you think of these names? Don’t they sound nice?”

“It’s great. As long as you like them, it wouldn’t matter what their names are. After all, they are my granddaughters.” Yang Meirong looked at Huo Mian in a heartfelt manner.

She felt that it was an incredibly happy thing to be with her daughter, especially when her daughter had just given birth to twin girls.

“Ms. Huo… It’s about time to bring the babies back to the NICU for bed.”

“Okay.”

Huo Mian was a bit reluctant to let go of her babies but she let the nurses take them away, leaving only her and her mother inside the room.

“Mian… I actually wanted to talk to you alone,” Yang Meirong said with hesitation in her eyes.

“Mom… go ahead.”

“Mian, what I’m going to say doesn’t mean anything special… You don’t need to overthink it but I just want the best for you…”

Yang Meirong knew that Huo Mian suffered from prenatal depression so she didn’t have the courage to tell her before.

Now that Huo Mian gave birth to the twins and was feeling a lot better, Yang Meirong really wanted to have a heart-to-heart talk with her.

“Mom, I understand. You don’t need to worry about me. I’m strong,” Huo Mian said with a smile.

Then, Huo Mian held onto her mom’s hand, just like how her mom would hold her when she was little.

Yang Meirong wasn’t her birth mother but she had treated her well all these years.

She had never been discriminatory because she was a girl, always treating her the same as Zhixin because she loved them both.

Even after the death of Uncle Jing, when her mom held deep misunderstandings against her, it still never impacted their years of the mother-daughter relationship.

Yang Meirong was more open and less worried after hearing Huo Mian’s words. She said with concern, “Mian, you’re only 25 years old… You’re still so young… What are you going to do with twins now?”

“Mom… I’m fine. Qin Chu left me with enough money that our whole family can live comfortably for the rest of our lives… Do you know how much money that is?” Huo Mian laughed.

“I’m not interested in numbers. I am interested in things money can’t buy… Even if you have the most money in the world, can you buy the twins fatherly love?” Yang Meirong asked.

Huo Mian didn’t respond…

“Can money buy you a husband that would be by your side?”

Huo Mian still didn’t respond…

“Mian… I understand that you are a strong and independent woman. All these years, you’ve been worrying about other people. It’s time that you think for yourself and the twins… They were born into this world without a father, which means they will grow up with only your love… Are you sure you really want them to live that way?”

“Mom, I don’t want that either, but what can I do? Qin Chu is…” Huo Mian’s eyes started getting watery.

She tried so hard to not think about Qin Chu because she was scared her depression would intensify.

“Then have you thought about the possibility that Qin Chu had actually passed away and is never coming back… What would you do then? Are you sure you want to be alone forever?” Yang Meirong looked at her daughter with loving eyes and asked.